Squad expected to be picked last in Pac-12 media poll

No one expects much from the Colorado football program and the coaches and players understand why.

The Buffs were one of the worst teams in the nation last season. So bad, in fact, that their former coach who had been on the job for just 23 months and one full recruiting cycle lost his job along with his entire staff. Then five months later, the athletic director who fired the coach, also lost his job, in large part, because of the state of the football program.

First-year coach Mike MacIntyre has spent the past two days being asked about what it's going to take to turn around the Buffs during the Pac-12 Conference's East Coast portion of football media days. MacIntyre will speak with media members who more regularly cover his program and the conference Friday at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif. He will be joined by wide receiver Paul Richardson and defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe, two players who came to CU after successful careers at California high schools.

MacIntyre and his players won't be surprised if the conference's preseason media poll picks them to finish last in the south division with the fewest number of points in the polling once again.

Advertisement

"The funny thing about that is I think every magazine and every ESPN thing you watch picks us last now," MacIntyre said. "So it's nothing new to them. I think that all of us don't really take that to heart. We know what we have to do.

"They can pick you first and you can get a big head and get beat. So you've got to handle on both sides of it. We don't dwell on that, but it's also something that we understand our work ethic, our production, the type of people we are, our effort, our practice habits, all of those types of things are what is going to help us overcome."

MacIntyre obviously had nothing to do with CU's humbling 2012 season in which the Buffs went 1-11 and lost by 20 or more points eight times, including seven of their nine conference games. But there are plenty of returning players who understand it's not just the media in the conference with low expectations.

"The record speaks for itself," senior linebacker and captain Derrick Webb said after a recent player-run practice in Boulder. "We can't change the record. The record is what it is. If they pick us 11th or 12th, it's probably because we have the 12th best record.

"But that was last year and that's the beauty of it. It's a new year, a new season. We just need a new attitude."

Junior cornerback Greg Henderson has grown accustomed to low expectations from the outside during his time in silver, black and gold. He says he understands that it's up to the Buffs to change that perception and earn the respect they covet.

"You see all that stuff and you try not to mind it, but it does fuel you to work harder," Henderson said. "Everybody is doubting us. We've had two bad seasons in a row. We've just got to come out there and play fast and play strong."

While fans of the CU program would like to go into the 2013 season hoping their team can pull off a drastic turnaround and return to a bowl game for the first time since 2007, most are more realistic. The hope is the Buffs find a way to win 3-4 times but become much more competitive with every opponent under the tutelage of new coaching.

With more inexperience at some spots on the offensive line and a new starting quarterback along with the expectation that plenty of true freshman will once again see the field, MacIntyre has his work cut out in producing such a turnaround.

"I'm excited about the future," MacIntyre said. "You always are, but I do understand the different obstacles we need to overcome. We have a plan in place. We'll even dissect that further when we all get back in here and get going."

The Pac-12 preseason media poll is expected to be released early Friday morning. MacIntyre and his players will be on stage at noon (MDT) but will be doing interviews with various radio, TV and digital/print media four roughly four hours starting at 10 a.m. (MDT)

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story